Published 5:12 am, Tuesday, May 6, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) joined his Republican colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee in sending a letter yesterday to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen after the Inspector General on Tax Administration released a report showing that several thousand IRS employees who failed to pay their taxes still received bonuses. A copy of the letter is attached.

“Any of these violations would have placed average taxpayers under IRS scrutiny and certainly not have ended with them receiving an award.

“The public disclosure of these awards at a time when the IRS is under scrutiny for its actions concerning the political activity of conservative social welfare organizations and when its performance of basic taxpayer service functions have materially worsened calls into question the agency’s commitment to the fair enforcement of our tax laws.

“The American public expects and deserves something better from our highest tax administration agency; namely actions displaying a commitment to a higher standard that provides an example to the citizens the agency serves.”

Last week, Sen. Cornyn introduced the No Bonuses for Delinquent IRS Employees Act to prohibit the IRS from awarding bonuses to employees who break tax law or violate employee policy.

Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance and Judiciary Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.